He said more than 50 million people were infected each year and more than half of them were hospitalized. More than 25,000 people died from this disease each year.
Dengue fever is commonly found in Southeast Asia but has spread to non-tropical countries too.
He said there are four varieties of the dengue. If a person is infected with one variety and recovers that person will have immunity for that variety and temporary immunity for other varieties. There is no vaccination or permanent cure for the disease, which is spread by a mosquito-born virus.
The WHO has developed a strategic prevention plan for countries in the Asia-Pacific region between 2008-2515 to reduce the death rate to below 1% of population and cut the numbers of dengue cases by 20% per year. The region is the high-risk area, as more than 70% of infected people live in the region.
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